BRAINERD — An award ceremony for Brainerd’s outstanding citizens is back.
For the first time since 2021, the Brainerd Jaycees and Brainerd Community Action are teaming up on an event to recognize winners of the Distinguished Service Awards.
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“I feel like it’s what’s been missing after COVID,” incoming 2025 Brainerd Jaycees Chapter President Hannah Solberg said during an interview Wednesday, Dec. 19. “We haven’t really been recognizing the people that deserve to be recognized. And being able to go out and bring the community together to support these amazing people, it means a lot.”
The Brainerd Jaycees is one of several service organizations that has struggled with volunteers and membership in recent years, making the large Distinguished Service Awards banquet of years past an impossible undertaking.
But this year, a celebration is coming back.
Kaitlyn Rhoda, the 2024 Brainerd Jaycees president, sees the revamped event as a chance to get past the disconnect that happened during the pandemic.
“This is a really good way for us to start to reconnect our community and reconnect people to each other,” Rhoda said.
The new event will feature an award ceremony on Jan. 17 at the Chalberg Theater at Central Lakes College, followed by a cocktail reception at a yet-to-be-determined location. The ceremony will start at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. The event is free, but tickets will need to be reserved online due to limited seating. Tickets will be available soon.
“The idea is having it almost be more like the Golden Globes or the Tonys style,” Rhoda said, noting they want the event to be a big deal.
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“We have incredible citizens that do incredible things outside of service organizations,” she added.
Honorees included winners of awards doled out by the Jaycees, Brainerd Community Action and other area organizations, and they include Nonprofit of the Year, Agribusiness Person/Family of the Year, Child Care Provider of the Year, Community Service Provider of the Year, Educator of the Year, Senior Volunteers of the year, Youth Volunteer of the Year, Young Citizen of the Year and Citizen of the Year.
The Brainerd Jaycees, host of the annual Ice Fishing Extravaganza, is a nonprofit service organization aimed at empowering young leaders to create positive change in their community through leadership, networking and community-building opportunities.
THERESA BOURKE may be reached at [email protected] or 218-855-5860. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DispatchTheresa.